Chapter 29 -:29 the Grigori
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"In any case, because of Twilight Healing, the upper echelons of the Church began to praise her as a Saint and used her as a means to line their coffers and bring in worshippers." She scowled "However, that all came to an end the day she healed a wounded man in the church gardens that was later revealed to be a Devil." She smirked at his look of surprise "I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out? Needless to say, by the end of the day, the same old men that had praised her as a Saint were denouncing her as a vile, heretical witch."
'Never once victorious...never once understood'.
Shirou's fists clenched, the Faker's eyes hardened as he envisioned kind, gentle Asia, whom even the perverted trio tried to control themselves around, being denounced as a witch by those she had trusted, those who, for their own reasons, had built her up as some sort of status symbol only to cast her aside when the need suited them.
It was just like Archer all over again. No, it was worse, as unlike the man who would become the Counter Guardian Emiya, Asia had never been given the choice to live her own life. All her decisions had been made for her, from the moment she was anointed as a saint to the moment they cast her out as a witch, not once had she been given the chance to choose.
'There really is no difference between this Church and the one back home, is there?' Shirou muttered, though perhaps that wasn't entirely true, as last he checked the Holy Church back home didn't have honest to God, pun intended, proof that there was a Heaven, Angels and whatnot. True, the only angels he seemed likely to run into here were the fallen variety, but that only gave strength to the implication that there were plenty of the other sort around.
"So you believe the Grigori were responsible for stealing the Excaliburs?" he pondered, falling into step alongside the battle-nun, his long legs allowing him to keep stride with her despite her fast pace.
"Can you think of anyone else capable of breaking into three of the most secure fortresses of Christendom and escaping with three Holy Swords?" Xenovia deadpanned, as if there was ever any doubt "Besides, the culprit, Kokabiel of the Grigori, made no attempt to conceal his identity from us."
"That doesn't make any sense." Shirou muttered, brow furrowing in confusion as he tried to fit it all together "Why go to all the trouble of stealing the Excaliburs and not bother to cover his tracks? It's almost like he wants to be found."
"Kokabiel is a battle maniac," Xenovia explained, her tone scornful, as if she'd tasted something foul "he loved to fight so much some suspect it was the reason he was cast out of Heaven." She scoffed "I suppose it's only natural he'd team up with monsters like Freed Sellzen and Valper Galilei."
Shirou said nothing, knowing first-hand the kind of monsters that could lurk behind unassuming guises. Most people that saw Kotomine Kirei or Matou Zouken would only see a sarcastic priest and a harmless old man, it was only after scratching past the surface that you saw the monsters that lay within, more-so in Zouken's case than Kirei.
'Not that the fucker didn't deserve what happened to him...' he muttered, recalling how he'd stabbed them in the back on the eve of their assault on the Greater Grail. If Lancer hadn't betrayed the priest, there's no telling what would have happened in the end.
Abandoned Chapel...
"We're here." Xenovia called out, drawing Shirou's attention to an abandoned Chapel that had clearly seen better days, the stained glass at the front shattered as if something large had been hurled through it.
"This is where Irina and I have been staying," the swordswoman explained, her expression pointedly neutral "apparently it was used by the Grigori at some point, so we deemed it prudent to search for clues here."
"Did you find anything?" Shirou wondered, only to grimace slightly at Xenovia's explosive sigh "I guess the Grigori must have cleaned house before they left...looks like they didn't go without a fight though."
"As much as it pains me to admit it, we have the Gremory faction to thank for purging this house of God of the Fallen's taint." Xenovia muttered, as if admitting to owing the devils anything physically cost her "I don't know the specifics, but apparently Asia Argento was sent to this Church following her being branded a Witch. The Gremory probably felt they were doing her a favour saving her from the Fallen's clutches."
"It's a hell of a lot more that you assholes ever did for her!" Issei called out from the darkness, Shirou and enovia looking up in surprise to see Irina and the pervert standing by the altar along with the rest of his group, the Devils all decked out in priest robes of all things.
"Ta-da! What do you think?" Irina chirped, gesturing to her demonic entourage with a cheerful smile that Shirou couldn't help but like "There was some initial resistance at first but in the end it suits them rather well, don't you think?"
'Devils dressed up like members of the clergy on a mission to destroy Excalibur...' Shirou mused, eternally grateful that he left Kirei dead back in the other world, as he didn't want to imagine the sick grin such a scene would inspire from the nihilistic priest 'Seriously, Fuck You Zelretch.'
"They'll do." Xenovia muttered, though judging by the twitch in her eye, it was clear she didn't exactly share her partner's approval of the Devil's new attire "We'll split into two groups." she instructed, turning to face them all "If something happens, call either Erina or myself without fail."
"Same to you." Issei offered, having already exchanged contact information with Irina earlier, only to blink at the unclad form of Shirou "Hey, which team should Emiya be on?"
"Since he's clearly proven himself capable of destroying an Excalibur on his own, Emiya-san will accompany Irina and myself." Xenovia cut in, earning a look of surprise from her partner "That, and we'd rather nothing happened to his Holy Shroud in the event you're ambushed."
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